When hot dogs change you

On Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods America, he tried hot dogs that were turned into fine dining fare. One had a fried egg on it. The other, lighter, came with basil.

Decadence like this inspires and disgusts. One side feels thrills over the innovation, and the freedom and wealth of the society that allows it. Another wonders about the values of a country where time is invested not into “saving the world,” but into stretching the limits of carnal stimulation so far that modifying a hot dog is given high placement in our cultural channels.

But step back. Perhaps, intrinsically, no thing or activity is good or bad (all right, well, there is such a thing as crime…). When it comes to evaluating the value of things, you are excited, or you are not.

You make or you don’t. But you need something pulling you forward. Not cravings. Desire in the deepest sense. A will to reshape the world you’ve inherited in small and large ways. These chefs possess that, and demonstrate it through the medium of a tube of sausage. I hate it. I love it.